READING: 1 Corinthians 9-11
“Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.”
1 Corinthians 11:1
I quote the text a lot, but it’s also a text that is hard to live up to. It’s Paul’s word to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 11:1– “Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.” It seems almost ludicrous that anyone would say such a thing (and, in fact, Paul also said something similar in 1 Cor. 4:16– “I urge you, then, be imitators of me”). Who among us lives so much like Jesus that we can say with integrity, “If you live like I live, you’ll be living like Christ”? One might even conclude that such a statement is arrogant.
On the other hand, that’s precisely the way we’re supposed to live. We call ourselves “Christians,” which means we must surely model the Christ we name as our Lord. Our actions, our words, our thoughts, our responses, our goals, and our dreams must reflect Him. How we love our spouses and raise our children must illustrate His love. The way we relate to each other and provoke one another to good works must reflect the way He loved and trained His followers. His affection and obedience to the Father must mark our lives. Indeed, we must be willing to give our lives for God’s work if that’s what the Father demands.
That’s a high, high calling and expectation – and it’s far too easy to water it down or ignore it completely. We will never win the world for Christ, however, if we only live like the world lives. We simply must show them something different.
We must show them Christ.
ACTION STEPS:
- Evaluate this question in your life: “If I were to imitate your life, would I be imitating Christ?”
- Make whatever changes you need to make based on your response to the above question.
PRAYER: “Father, make me like Your Son. May others see Jesus in me.”
TOMORROW’S READING: 1 Corinthians 12-14
